Tommy Sheppard

March Newsletter - Constituency

There was an amazing turnout for Leith Chooses this year. It's a fantastic opportunity for folk in Leith to have a say in what funds are spent on, and what local groups get support.

It was great to be able to join the Commonwealth Day Lunch at Edinburgh City Chambers to celebrate the links between Scotland and Malawi.

I had a fascinating visit to Virgin Trains East Coast depot at Craigentinny - the amount of work that takes place there is pretty incredible. And as someone who spends a lot of time on a train these days, it was great to be able to sit in the driver's seat!

Ben Macpherson MSP and I held a joint street surgery in the Leith Walk ward - meeting constituents and doing joint house calls. It was great to be able to work jointly and I hope we'll do more in the near future.

Lovely to catch up with my old pal Larah at Bross Bagels in Porty - I’m now a convert! Great to hear they’re teaming up with Breadshare for new enterprise in Leith.

Thanks to all Castlebrae CHSfor letting me help out with the skiff earlier in the month. It was good to catch up on all the great work happening in the school and see some of the local Councillors too.

I met Michelle from Street Fit Scotland to hear about the amazing programmes she runs with people who've experienced homelessness & addiction, building fitness, confidence and life skills. They're based in the Southside but work with people from all over the city. You can read more about the brilliant work Street Fit does at streetfitscotland.org and support their Crowdfunder here.

I had another very interesting visit to the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh - there's so much going on there. On this occasion I met the inspiring Resuscitation Research Group who are developing innovative approaches to improving outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Their message was clear: CPR saves lives. Click the link, be CPR ready and Save a Life for Scotland! www.savealife.scot.

Finally, I was pleased to be able to show solidarity to those at UCU Edinburgh as they continued the strike to protect their pensions. They have my full support, and I pressed their case at my first meeting with the new Edinburgh University Principal, Peter Mathieson. Find out more about the campaign here.

About the author

Born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland in 1959, Tommy was educated at a local grammar school and, equipped with the requisite A levels, moved to Scotland to study medicine at Aberdeen University. He graduated with a degree in politics and sociology – the start of a lifelong interest in politics.

He returned to Scotland in 1993 and established the Stand Comedy Club in 1995, which he started as a hobby and built into a successful business. Tommy lives in Minto Street with his partner Kate and cocker spaniel Henry.

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